Super Eagles centre-back Leon Balogun’s Mainz have secured their German Bundesliga safety after a shock 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.
Balogun, who has just recovered from an injury, was not in the matchday squad but he would be delighted as Mainz stunned the over 80,000 Dortmund fans at the Park. Nigerian striker Anthony Ujah was an unused substitute for Mainz.
Bote Baku gave Mainz the lead after just four minutes and Yoshoro Muto made it 2-0 nine minutes later.
Maximilian Philipp pulled one back for Dortmund but Mainz held on to claim a famous win that preserved their stay in the German top flight.
The win took Mainz’s points haul to 36 from 33 matches and left them 14th in the 18-team table, six points better off than Wolfsburg who occupy the final relegation spot in 16th place.
Dortmund are third with 55 points.
Meanwhile,Nigerian forward Peter Olayinka scored the winner for visitors Zulte-Waregem on Saturday as they defeated Kortrijk in their Belgian First Division Europa League Play-Offs Group A clash.
The play-offs are for spots in next season’s UEFA Europa League.
Theo Bongonda opened scoring for Zulte-Waregem in the 15th minute but hosts Kortrijt were back level only six minutes later.
Olayinka then struck in the 34th minute to give his side a second straight win in the play-offs.
The goal was Olayinka’s 10th of the season in 36 games. The 22-year-old, who can play as a wide forward or centre forward, has bagged an impressive 15 assists.
The win kept Zulte-Waregem on top of the six-team play-offs log with 19 points from seven games, while Kortrijt are second in the table with 12 points.